Tom Kenny, the voice of 'SpongeBob,' recalls growing up (sort of) in East Syracuse

Updated January 8, 2015 at 11:20 AM;Posted January 8, 2015 at 11:17 AM

Tom Kenny, SpongeBob SquarePants

Tom Kenny, the voice of SpongeBob SquarePants, and the Hi Seas band performed for an energetic crowd at the grand opening of the new attraction, 'ICE LAND Ice Sculptures with SpongeBob SquarePants' at Moody Gardens in Galveston, TX on Saturday, Nov. 15, 2014.
(The Associated Press)

Tom Kenny doesn't think he's changed much since he left Central New York more than 30 years ago.

The 52-year-old actor, best known as the voice of "SpongeBob SquarePants," compares his Studio City, California, home to his East Syracuse upbringing. And while he's married with two kids and a solid career, it's hard for him to feel like an adult.

"Since I spend my days acting like a hyperactive child, you can't really say I grew up anywhere," Kenny told the WSJ. "Today, I... live in a house that looks like it belongs in East Syracuse. Life has come full circle."

He recalled growing up in "bitterly cold winters" as the middle child in a family of seven, sharing a room with his older brother in a four-bedroom ranch house. He loved reading and drawing comics, watched cartoons in black-and-white ("my family didn't buy a color set until 1976") and was inspired by the "goofy voices" from talents like Mel Blanc, Daws Butler, June Foray, Don Messick and Stan Freberg.

Kenny graduated from Bishop Grimes High School with filmmaker-comedian Bobcat Goldthwait. He described how in 1978, when they were sophomores, they performed standup comedy at a Skaneateles restaurant after Barry Crimmins put out an ad looking for local comics.

"I did pretty well," Kenny told the newspaper. "I wrote jokes about being nerdy and going to my analyst, like my hero, Woody Allen. Except I had never been to an analyst and didn't even know what one did there. My poor parents were puzzled over my stand-up obsession, but they were never discouraging."

Kenny delayed college for a year so he could pursue stand-up comedy, and ended up never pursuing higher education. He followed Goldthwait to San Francisco, where Robin Williams convinced Kenny's parents he was "funny" and "going to do great."

He landed a role as the voice of Heffer Wolfe on "Rocko's Modern Life" in 1993, which led to the title role of "SpongeBob SquarePants," which premiered on Nickelodeon in 1999. The cartoon series is still on the air more than 15 years later, with a 3D live-action movie ("Sponge Out of Water") opening Feb. 6 in theaters.

Today, Kenny has more than 300 film and TV credits on IMDb, including voicing characters for "Scooby Doo! Mystery Incorporated," "The Powerpuff Girls," "Futurama" and Michael Bay's "Transformers" movies. He also dabbled in music with the bands The Tearjerkers and The Trend, appeared in the Smashing Pumpkins music video for "Tonight, Tonight," and made cameos in Goldthwait films like "World's Greatest Dad" and "God Bless America."

Kenny joked to the Wall Street Journal that his job makes it difficult for his two children -- Mack, 17, and Nora, 11 -- to take him seriously as a parent. He especially struggled telling Mack, who wants to be an animator, to stop doodling cartoons on his biology papers.

"I've found that being a parent is about learning to embrace your inner hypocrite," Kenny said.